Thursday, October 31, 2013

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Have you or are you thinking about discounting the commission when selling a home? If so, please continue reading.

You're about to read a true story. You may or may not like it, but it happens. And it could be the reason a home isn't getting more traffic.

When I was an active realtor, I had a listing on the market for approximately 3 months. The commission that was being offered to a buyer's agent was 2.5%. It was getting decent traffic but it was also at the time when the market was beginning to slow.

I uploaded the listing on a few of the sites below as well as the seller's home owner's community web site. I received a call from an agent saying he had potential clients that saw the listing on the community web site that were very interested and wanted to know why I had discounted the commission. I don't think I have to tell you that that's absolutely none of anyone's business. Please continue reading to find out what happened in the end.

Commission Rates Have Always Been Suggested.

By law there is no definite percentage or cash amount that a real estate company can charge. For quite some time, 6% has seemed to be the standard and the commission is paid by the seller. In most transactions, there is a listing agent and a buyer's agent with the commission being split between two different agents and two different real estate companies (unless the buyer's agent works for the same broker as the listing agent, then the whole commission, usually 6% is paid to their broker).

The listing agent (with permission from the seller(s), decides what that split will be. Most of the time the split will be 3% for each side (the listing company and the buying company). Sometimes, especially if the commission has been negotiated by the seller, the split can be lower than 3% and in some situations higher than 3%.

How an Agent Can Search for a Buyer

When an agent runs a search for their potential buyers in their multiple listing system, they can choose not to search for homes with commissions below 3% by filling in a certain search field.

Now I can only assume from the story above that the agent was only looking for listings with at least a 3% commission. But because I had put the listing somewhere else for other buyers to see, it received more exposure and to make a long story short, his clients bought the home.

Most buyers are online first when beginning their search. Sometimes a buyer will look where their friends live. That's what happened in the case of the buyers finding the listing on the community web site. The more exposure you can get, the faster a home can sell.

Below are some sites your agent or you can try for more exposure.

*If your home is listed with a real estate company, make sure your agents contact information is listed if you choose to use any of the sites listed.

*If you're selling a home without an agent, take precautionary measures as far as safety when showing the home to potential buyers.

1) militarybyowner.com /For a fee, depending on what kind of listing you choose. Great marketing if you live by a military base.

2) trulia.com/submit_listings /Free

3) /At the time of this post, 0 insertion fee for a 30-day ad or auction listing

4) craigslist.org /Free

5) owners.com /Free for a basic listing, and several options to choose from for selling your home yourself (with or without an agent) for a fee. Listing will be featured on realtor.com

6) forsalebyowner.com /Several options to choose from for selling your home yourself for a fee

7) youtube.com /Free. Make a youtube virtual tour video of the home (inside and out) Email the link to friends and family and ask them to keep your home in mind if they hear of anyone looking to buy. Have your agent email the link to all agents in the office and put the link in any print marketing.

8) Last but not least, if you live in a neighborhood with a home owner's community web page, upload the listing.

*The sites mentioned are suggestions, not a guarantee that it will get additional buyers through the door or sell the home.

Our blog provides tips and techniques through "How To Articles", printable lists and photo galleries to how to show a home in order to attract the most amounts of buyers to help in getting an offer faster.Visit our blog How To Sell a Home Faster

Our blog provides tips and techniques through "How To Articles", printable lists and photo galleries on how to show a home in order to attract the most amounts of buyers to help in getting a faster offer.